The Strange Case of Bo Xilai

China's dynamic economy is well positioned to take top honors in the 21st century. Its politics, however, are old and broken.

The case of Bo Xilai, the disgraced politician who has just been expelled from the Communist Party and who will likely face a worse fate from the courts, captures all that is unwell in the country. First, Bo is a princeling and thus a descendent from one of Communist China's founding families. His career, his aspirations, and his demise remind us that the Chinese still live in a dynastic system dominated by conquering families, in which princes vie for the throne when it becomes vacant. Nationalist China under Chiang Kai-shek was said to have four great families. Communist China has perhaps fourteen, with much more power, influence and wealth than their Nationalist predecessors.

Second, the Bo Xilai case demonstrates the endurance of regional power bases in a supposedly unitary state. Like the warlords of the early 20th century, provincial party secretaries in the PRC often have untrammeled political power — absolute power, in Bo's case, in the city/province of Chongqing, where he held all the power and prestige of his position until the moment he was stripped of it.

Third, consider the role of the military. When the Communists conquered China, they divided the country into regional military districts that remain to this day. Bo clearly had substantial support within the People's Liberation Army, nationally and regionally. His closeness to regional military authorities, however, was apparently alarming to Beijing. It remains true today, as it was the day the People's Republic of China (PRC) was founded: Military power is the heart of the regime. The most important person is not the president or party chief; it is the chairman of the Party Military Commission.

Fourth, the Bo case and its soap-operatic side-shows — the trials of his wife, Gu Kailai and his onetime police chief, Wang Lijun — demonstrate more clearly than ever that the judicial and police systems of the PRC remain politically malleable. Bo and Wang first covered up the alleged crimes of Ms. Gu, who has been convicted of killing a British citizen, and then they themselves were subjected to politicized trials in which there was no opportunity for self-defense. Now that Bo himself has been charged, he can expect the same treatment.

Fifth, if the allegations of financial impropriety against Bo are accurate, this is yet another example of the massive monetary corruption that permeates politics, government, and business in contemporary China.

Finally, no one can possibly believe that in any of these areas — the importance of family ties, regionalism, the influence of the military, the politicization of justice, and simple corruption — the Bo case is unique. What is unusual is that all these factors have risen to the surface at one time for all the world to see.